Method of reworking worn car-axles.



. J. M. HANSEN. I 7 METHOD OF REWORKING WORN GAR AXLBS. APPLICATIONFILED JUHIE 13. 1908.

W ssEs, 'NVENTOR' I Patented Nov. 23, 1909.

n are tin-ii JGH'N M. HANSEN, or rirrsnnne, PENNSYLVANIA.

METHOD OF REXVCIEKING WSRN OAR-AXLES.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOHN M. HANSEN, a resident of Pittsburg, in thecounty of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have in vented a new anduseful improvement in Methods of Rcworking lVorn Car-Axles; and I dohereby declare the following to be a fulhclear, and exactdcscriptionthereof.

This invention relates to a method of reworking or utilizing worn ca'raxles.

Railroad car axles are subjected to severe wear on the journal portions.The practice is to discard such axles when the journal portions "areworn down about g; of an inch, it

- being then considered that either the axle is no longer safe or thatits reduced diameter cntails excessive wear on the journal bearings aswell as also being objectionable on account of the loose fit with thebearing.

, he life of axles is rather short and as their first cost is large theyconstitute a heavy item in the maintenance of rolling stock.

The object of this invention is to utilize such worn car axles andre-work the same to at least double the life thereof so as to e'fi'ect alar e saving in the maintenance of rolling stoc The invention consistsin forming and-reworking car axles by forming the axle with finishedournal and collar portions and after wear, heating and so reforging theaxle as to reduce the length of the end collar and enlarge the journalportion so that after such ifs-forging it would be at least as large asthe original ournal )ortion.

The invention claitne in this application is one of the modificationsillustrated and described in my companion application, Serial No.438,419, wherein the invention is generically claimed.

In the acconipiinying drawings Figure 1 is a side view showing one endof a Worm car axle prior to being subjected to my method; I igs. 2 and 3are sectional diagrammatic views illustrating the manner of en'- largingthe diameter-of the worn journal ortion; and Fig. 4 is a diagrammaticview lllustrating the returning of the journal portion.

Fig. 1 shows a ortion of a worn car axle having the main body or centralportion 1, the ortion 2 upon which the-wheel is securec, the journal 3and the end collar 4.

' The dotted lines 5 show the original diameter of the journal portion,so indicating the- Specification of: Letters Patent.

manner in which the same has been worn.

Patented Nov. 23, 1909.

This axle may be similar to the standard axles in all particulars exceptthat an exces of metal is provided in its end portion, the

is, in the end collar +t. The dotted line 6 indicates the usual lengthof a standard caraxle and all of the nietal'beyond said dot-ted line isexcess;

\Vhcn this axle has become worn it is subjected to a suitable forgingoperation to. again enlarge its journal to or. beyond its originaldiameter so that the latter can again be re-turned and used the same asa new axle. Fig. 2 illustrates one manner of effecting this result. Theend of the axle is heated and then subjected to an Lip-settingoperation, such as by means of the up'setting dies? carried by asuitable plunger 8 which may be operated by a. hydraulic cyl inder orother suitable means. held and grasped by means, such as ,di"

whichare made to grip the axle inside. he journal portion,so holding theaxle against the thrust of the upsetting die. Preferably also these dies9 are extended to inclos the journal portion but not. tightly, leaving aspace therebetween. 10 and shows the parts in position before theupsetting operation, while Fig. 3 shows the same parts after theupsetting operation. in which the metal has been forcedinwardly by theupsetting die, so reducing the length of the end collar and increasingthe diameter of the journal portion so that after such reforging the1journal portion will be at least as large as t 1e original journalportion. It will thus be seen that by making theend collar of heoriginal axle of greater len h than required, sutiicient metal is provied for such enlarging of the journal portion by the upset-tingoperation. The metal is preventedfrorn flowing inwardly. beyond thejournal portion on account ofthe gripping dies 9 and consequently whenupset must flow radially and increase the diameter of 100 The excess ofmetal in the end 00 strain 105 The axle gs Fig. 2 shows a space allcases will be made sufiicient so that when the journal portion ismsetthe. axle will have a collar of the usua s ze and a journal as largeas in theoriginel forged ax-le so that said journal can again be turneddown (191.?

to the same size as thejournals of new axles. This re-turning 15illustrated in Fig. 4.

g} etc eee Aceordin to this method the axle may he made capab e of beingre-iorged a plurality of times by providing a sufiicient quantity ofexcess metal in the end collar, and in the 5 suveessive re-forgings saidend collar will be reduced in length at each re forging. There-forgedaxle has a journal portion of the same size and consequentlythe same strength as a new axle.

10 it will be readily seen that aceordin to ,this method the life of theaxle can be oubled and eveh trebled by rather simple operations and atcomparatively small cost, much less than the cost of a new axle. This 15will materially reduce the cost of maintenance of the rolling stock.

What-I claim is} The method of form' b and rte-working ear axles,consisting m orming the axle with finished journal and collar portions,20

large as the original journal portion. 9:,

In testimony whereof, I the said J OHN M. HANSEN have hereunto set myhand.

JOHN M. HANSEN.

" Witnesses: I ROBERT C. TOTTEN, J. R. KELLER.

